Link Academy is a

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. They have existed for many centuries, and now extend acr ...

just outside of

Branson, Missouri Branson is a city in the U.S. state of Missouri. Most of the city is situated in Taney County, Missouri, Taney County, with a small portion in the west extending into Stone County, Missouri, Stone County. Branson is in the Ozarks, Ozark Mountain ...

. Known for its basketball teams, it won the 2023 Men's GEICO National Championship and the 2025 Nike EYBL Scholastic Conference Tournament Championship. It was founded by former college basketball player Adam Donyes.

McDonald's All American Players

* 2025 Chris Cenac Jr. * 2024 Tre Johnson * 2023 Ja'Kobe Walter * 2022 Julian Phillips * 2022 Jordan Walsh

National championship history

In Link Academy's inaugural year, the high school team secured the #4 seed in the 2022 GEICO National Championships and finished the tournament as the runner-ups. In their second year, the Lions once again entered the tournament as the #4 seed, and won the overall championship title. The Lions entered the 2023-2024 Chipotle National Championship Tournament (successor to the GEICO National Championships) as the #6 seed, and became the sole high school program to make the semi-finals for three seasons in a row (2021-2022, 2022-2023, and 2023-2024). The 2024-2025 team earned the highest seed in Link Academy history, entering the 2025 Chipotle National Tournament as the #2 seed.

Notable alumni

* JaMichael Morgan (2017), basketball player who played in

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

* Bryson Warren (2021 - transferred), basketball player for the

Sioux Falls Skyforce The Sioux Falls Skyforce are an American professional basketball team of the NBA G League based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and are affiliated with the Miami Heat. The team has played its home games in the Sanford Pentagon since the 2013–14 ...

* Felix Okpara (2022), basketball player for the

Tennessee Volunteers The Tennessee Volunteers and Lady Volunteers are the 20 male and female varsity intercollegiate athletics programs that represent the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee. The Volunteers compete in Division I of the National Colleg ...

* Julian Phillips (2022), basketball player for the

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference. The team was founded on January 16 ...

* Tarris Reed (2022), basketball player for the

Connecticut Huskies The UConn Huskies (or Connecticut Huskies) are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Connecticut, with its main campus located in Storrs, Connecticut. The school is a member of the NCAA's Division I and the Big Eas ...

* Jordan Walsh (2022), basketball player for the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), ...

* Elliot Cadeau (2023), basketball player for the

North Carolina Tar Heels The North Carolina Tar Heels (also Carolina Tar Heels) are the college sports in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The name Tar Heel is a nickname used to refer to ...

Ja'Kobe Walter Ja'Kobe Amare Walter (born September 4, 2004) is an American basketball player for the Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Baylor Bears men's basketball, Baylor Bears. He was a consens ...

(2023), basketball player for the

Toronto Raptors The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), E ...

* Tre Johnson (2024), basketball player for the

Texas Longhorns The Texas Longhorns are the athletic teams representing the University of Texas at Austin. The teams are sometimes referred to as the Horns and take their name from Longhorn cattle that were an important part of the development of Texas, and ...

* Labaron Philon (2024), basketball player for the

Alabama Crimson Tide The Alabama Crimson Tide refers to the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic varsity teams that represent the University of Alabama, located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide teams compete in the Na ...

Jasper Johnson Jasper Johnson (born March 25, 2006) is an American basketball player who plays for team RWE of Overtime Elite. Early life and high school Johnson grew up in Lexington, Kentucky and initially attended Woodford County High School. He averaged 20 ...

(2025 - transferred), high school basketball player, committed to the

Kentucky Wildcats The Kentucky Wildcats are the men's and women's intercollegiate athletic squads of the University of Kentucky (UK), a founding member of the Southeastern Conference. The Kentucky Wildcats is the student body of the University of Kentucky. 30, ...

* Chris Cenac (anticipated graduation - 2025), high school basketball player, committed to the

Houston Cougars The Houston Cougars are the athletic teams representing the University of Houston. Informally, the Houston Cougars have also been referred to as the Coogs, UH, or simply Houston. Houston's nickname was suggested by early physical education inst ...

Head Coaches

* 2021-2022 Rodney Perry Named Assistant Coach at

Kansas State Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public inst ...

in July 2022. * 2022-2024 Bill Armstrong Named Head Coach at McNeese State in March 2025 after serving as an assistant coach for the

Baylor Bears The Baylor Bears are the athletic teams that represent Baylor University. The teams participate in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as one of only three private school members of the Big 12 Conference. Prior t ...

from 2024 to 2025. * 2024-present Chad Myers

References

Branson, Missouri Private high schools in Missouri Schools in Taney County, Missouri High school basketball in Missouri 2021 establishments in Missouri Educational institutions established in 2021 {{Missouri-school-stub